Taboo 4

In this fourth film in the insanely long running series started by director Kirdy Stevens and writer/producer Helene Terrie way back in 1980, a full five years before this puppy was shot, Kay Parker is for the first time pushed aside in favor of new blood. Rather than focus on the exploits of Barbara Scott and her incestuous longings for her sons, this time around the story zooms in on Dr. Jeremy Lodge (Jamie Gillis of fucking WATERPOWER - yeah!), a psychiatrist who specializes in treating those affected by incest.

Dr. Lodge, whose lovely young daughters, Robin (Ginger Lynn) and Naomi (Karen Summer), are heading off to college, holds group therapy sessions with a few people including Joyce McBride (Honey Wilder reprising her role from the earlier films in the series) who has shown up to talk about her incestuous relationship with her son, Junior (Kevin James). While he's taking care of his therapy sessions, Robin and Naomi come home for a visit only to find out that mom and dad are having problems - it seems that the good doctor busted the missus (Cyndee Summers) fucking his brother, Billy (John Leslie)!

So with that said, Dr. Lodge decides to call it quits. He takes custody of lovely Robin while Naomi goes off to live with Billy and her mom. What Dr. Lodge doesn't know is that Naomi has always had a crush on her uncle and as she becomes increasingly aware of what Billy and her mother do in the bedroom her desires begin to burn more intensely. If that weren't enough, Robin is starting to show an interest in her father's studies and in fact she's intent on convincing Junior McBride to fuck his mother one last time so that she can watch and observe. He obliges, and soon Robin has discovered feelings for a family member of her own and turns her sights on dear old dad...

Ginger Lynn is top billed in this film, and rightly so as despite her goofy poodle-perm hair do she looks very, very good in this picture. Technically Kay Parker shows up in this one in a scene with Mike Ranger but it's in flashback form, it's not new material ensuring that Ginger very much owns the film. Honey Wilder is great in her fourth stab at the series but really, stack her against a young Ginger Lynn and there is simply no competition. The male performers hold their own this time around with both John Leslie and Jamie Goddamn Gillis holding their own as far as intensity goes. Joey Silvera lives in their shadow a bit here, but that doesn't mean he does a bad job, simply that he can't compete with two legends of seventies smutmanship.

As Stevens proved with the first three entries in the series, the guy knows how to pace and shoot a porno. The sex is graphic enough to be hot but not super nasty in terms of what it shows despite it's taboo (pun intended) subject matter. There's a bit of class happening behind the camera and it shows not only in the cinematography but also in the score and the overall production values on display throughout the movie.

The DVD

Video:

The 1.33.1 fullframe transfer presents the film in its original aspect ratio. The picture isn't bad, but it could have been better (flagging it for progressive scan playback would have helped). Some dirt and debris is present throughout and the colors have faded a little bit but other than that the image is reasonably strong. Black levels are a little murky but certainly no worse than most porno movies made around the same time. There's a decent level of detail here, and while it would have been nice to see a truly re-mastered picture for this release, it certainly could have looked a lot worse.

Audio:

The Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is fine with only a few faint instances where you'll pick up on any hiss or distortion. The soundtrack is mixed in with the performers and the dialogue quite nicely and nothing winds up buried. It isn't a fancy track, but it certainly gets the job done without any major issues.

Extras:

Extras on this release include a still gallery of images from the film, trailers for Taboo (2:16, featuring some great trashy narration), Taboo II (a length 4:39, featuring more trashy narration which plays up the 'hotness' and 'depravity' of incest) and Taboo: Playing With Fire (4:37, with more goofy narration from the same guy who narrated the other two trailers), menus and chapter selection. The disc is housed inside a keepcase which in turn fits inside a cardboard slipcase featuring the same cover art on the front in black and white instead of in color (though the images on the back are slightly more risqué on the sleeve than on the slipcase). Not noted on the case is a 7:25 minute interview with Kay Parker - it's the same one that appeared on Taboo III. Also included but not noted on the packaging is the original script for the film in DVD-Rom format.

The two main supplements on this disc that really give it some important, however, are the two commentary tracks. The first track features Ms. Lynn going at it solo. Ginger sounds a little spaced out at first but soon enough she starts to get into things a little bit. She spends a lot of time just talking about what happens on screen and giggling at the movie. The unnamed male moderator keeps her moving along at a decent pace. That said, if Ginger doesn't have the best memory or very many stories to tell, at least she has enthusiasm and a sense of humor. She does have a few recollections, such as 'letting her sister lick her coochie' and the effect of red fingernails. She does make some interesting points about the score and her reasons for staying away from Jamie Gills are rather amusing.

The second commentary features director Kirdy Stevens and writer Helene Terrie. This track is far less observational than Lynn's and it is a lot more informative as well. They talk about everything from the blinds that were used on the set to block the light and shooting locations to various cast members and the score. Terrie dominates the track far more than Kirdy does, and she talks about Gillis' role a fair bit and discusses working with him and a few of the other performers. Stevens literally just spends most of his time sitting there and agreeing with Terrie but he does chime in when they discuss dubbing certain scenes and why they had to not record live sound for a specific moment. Stevens backs that up by saying he's quite because he hasn't seen it in years and he's just enjoying seeing the movie for the first time in years.

Final Thoughts:

With a great cast of late seventies and early eighties fuck film superstars and a surprisingly decent plot, Taboo IV: The Younger Generation may have its feet firmly cemented in the early eighties but never the less proves to be a reasonably intelligent and fairly erotic film. Standard Digital's DVD looks and sounds okay but contains a pair of decent commentary tracks and a few other supplements earning this release a solid recommendation.